Bodh Gaya displays Buddha's ashes

ANI, February 4, 2010

Bodh Gaya, India -- Buddhists monks from across the country converged at Bodh Gaya to participate in a religious procession on Wednesday.

Decked up elephants, horses and camels and palanquins accompanied the monks who took out the ashes of Buddha and two of his prominent disciples for public display.

Devout Buddhists and even others considered the viewing of the urn containing the ashes of Lord Buddha as divine blessing.

"We have people from India, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Sikkim and Nepal with a desire to see the ashes of the Lord Buddha once in their lifetime. They feel happy and content after coming here," said P. Sivli Thero, a senior monk, Mahabodhi Society of India, an apex body of Buddhist shrines.

Lord Buddha attained enlightenment while doing penance under a Bodhi tree (Tree of Enlightenment) near a temple in Bodh Gaya.

Lord Buddha, founder of Buddhism was born a prince at Lumbini in Nepal over 2,600 years ago.